SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/680178
they married. That's when my level [of riding] got better. At 15, I made it a goal of mine to be a professional racer. 'If you get good grades and get your own job and pay for your own stuff, you can go racing,' is what my mom would tell me." Udall ended up getting a job with Nicoll Racing in his hometown of San Clemente, California; learning how to work on bikes from top to bottom, front to back, inside and out. Thus, he funded his own racing effort and moved through the ranks until 2009 when he finally got his first major ride as a JCR Honda asset. When asked if he ever had an interest in racing speedway, Udall replied, "Brad always loved mountain biking, racing motocross, and Grand Prix. With his son, Bryce, they did a lot of Grand Prix, like the Big 6 Grand Prix. He raced speedway, but Brad always steered us away from it. He said it's really, really, dangerous. You could be doing the perfect apex turn and feel like you've got complete control of the lead, knowing the guy behind you has no brakes (one of the most unusual features of a speedway motorcycle). You can just hold the throttle wide open and they'd slam into you, and you'd be flying. You'll be sliding perfectly one minute and end up underneath the grandstands the next, without even knowing what happened!" Avoiding the risks of speedway racing didn't keep Udall from attending those races, however. "We always went and watched. It's definitely a family affair, but my brothers and I just enjoy riding dirt bikes. I always wanted to try [speedway], but I haven't done it." Udall has done some motocross and is one of the few off-road racers to have qualified for an AMA outdoor National, which he's done several times now. He has yet to finish in a top 20 points paying position, something he hopes to rectify in the future. "The same year I got 25th overall at a National," said Udall. "I went out for a WORCS race in Washington and got lapped twice by Kurt Caselli. It's kind of a funny deal, but WORCS is a different beast, obviously." UDALL'S SCORE CAREER OFF TO A LATE START Udall's SCORE career actually began a couple years before the JCR Honda team picked him up. "My first SCORE Baja race was actually the 2007 SCORE Baja 1000," he recalls. "Then I raced the 2008 SCORE Baja 1000 and I haven't missed a race since." And while he's never raced speedway, Udall gives much credit to Oxley for imparting his knowledge of race craft, as well as what he learned from Johnny Campbell. "You could say I got a lot of my championship knowledge, like how to think and how to race, from 'Rad Brad' Oxley, Johnny Campbell, and TJ (Tom Jones, an integral part of Honda's Baja support team since the Bruce Ogilvie days). I kind of had racing in my background, but I got a later start than a lot of guys." Despite that late start, Udall made an impact almost immediately when he started at JCR Honda as a member of its "B" team. That changed when THE LATE JEFF "OX" KARGOLA (LEFT) AND COLTON UDALL ENJOYED MUCH SUCCESS, IN FACT PICKING UP THEIR FIRST- EVER SCORE VICTORY BY WINNING THE SCORE SAN FELIPE IN 2010. UDALL NAMED HIS OWN RACE TEAM AFTER HIS FRIEND, WHO SUFFERED FATAL INJURIES IN A TRAIL RIDING CRASH NOT FAR FROM SAN FELIPE IN 2011, A FEW MONTHS AFTER THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN. MARK KARIYA THE LATE JEFF "OX" KARGOLA (LEFT) AND COLTON UDALL ENJOYED MUCH SUCCESS, IN FACT PICKING UP THEIR FIRST-EVER SCORE VICTORY BY WINNING THE SCORE SAN FELIPE IN 2010. UDALL NAMED HIS OWN RACE TEAM AFTER HIS FRIEND, WHO SUFFERED FATAL INJURIES IN A TRAIL RIDING CRASH NOT FAR FROM SAN FELIPE IN 2011, A FEW MONTHS AFTER THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN. 051 SCORE JOURNAL MARK KARIYA